I can only picture Mary when I see these women. Every day, we continue to reproduce the toxic setting for systematic injustices that led to Jesus’ death. We know that Jesus is coming again. We know that God has promised to avenge the oppressed, but that doesn’t mean that we as Christians should stand by and do nothing. I see the Church protesting about gay marriage and abortion—has the church been out there with the protesters, giving community support, setting up donation drives for the families left behind, opening the chapel doors for prayers and vigils and pastoral support? I cannot speak for all the different areas in America. But I would like to hope that there are some community churches doing this.
We may live in an increasingly secular world, but once upon a time the church had a great prominence in its local community. It was present just because it was The Church. Now the church needs to reclaim its relevance in a dying and distraught world. We need to remind others that only the love of Christ can fill this void. This love takes on different forms. In our current context, it means emanating our respect of justice and order, and expressing our hatred of injustice. The Jesus in Revelation is a God of Justice. We, as his disciples of the End Times messages found in Revelation need to be as concerned with these injustices as the families of all these victims of an institutionally racist system. Whether it means starting conversations, raising awareness, donating, or being a real revolutionary and taking a big community project idea to your church leaders, the time is now. We need to act, be present, and most of all show these families that we love them, and our hearts are grieving alongside theirs.
"We know that God has promised to avenge the oppressed, but that doesn’t mean that we as Christians should stand by and do nothing"
Are we doing enough to lend our support during crises? (Top: Esaw Garner, widow of Eric Garner. Bottom: Leslie McSpadden, Michael Brown's mother)